Dedicated to Wilton H. Greene (1920-2002)

The Artist

Some deep serenity made by the sun
And the wind and the time of flowers
Made him what he was. Work slacks,
A barnyard red shirt, his tanned and lined
Face under the paint-stained
Will Rogers hat, and some simplicity
Made him what he was. The easel
Showed thirty years wear, his art kit
The gray smudges of a hundred oils
That only remain in some glint of memory.
The wind must have loved him.
An old radio played classical.
He painted.
And a hundred people admired.
And the painting,
Made him what he was.
He smiled.

By Paul Halupa, Balboa Park, 4/18/82